Winds of Change Book II Distant Thunder

by RGZ Archer

Kai has assembled his team, and the group of seven must now race against both Cyclonia and time itself to prevent a weapon of unimaginable power from falling into the wrong hands. But just whose hands are the wrong hands? Who is their true enemy?

15. The Shadow’s Requiem!

Winds of Change Book II: Distant Thunder

Chapter 15: The Shadow's Requiem! Rebirth of the Fifth Warrior!

AN: I know this chapter is waayyyy overdue, but things have been busy, and fight scenes take time for me to write out. This chapter turned out bigger in some ways than I originally planned, but smaller in others. It still has some major battles, but the big one got pushed back to next chapter. This book is going to be a bit bigger than the first one, probably around 30 chapters, possibly 40 depending on my muse. I will say this right now though. Both this chapter and the next one will be a little on the dark side, and will be a rollercoaster. Those who have read my work before know what this term entails.

Enjoy!

Also don't forget check out Arashi21's new story: Fighting Wings! Which ties in with the Winds of Change serie, but is told through the eyes of Kestrel!

Disclaimer: I do not own Storm Hawks, and never will, also I do not own anything related to Legend of the Dragoon or Legend of Zelda, or Code Lyoko. They are the property of Asaph "Ace" Fipke and made by Nerd Corps Entertainment, Sony Entertainment, Nintendo and Moonscape, however I DO own Kai, Rose, the Shadow crystal, the Wasps, and this story.

Shadow,Griffy and Nagera are the property of ShadowQueen25

Tigger belongs to Mrs J Black

Marina is Star Wars Nut's

Rondana was made, and is owned by MissDedodakes

Scarlett is the creation of Love Flame

"Alright, you know what to do, don't get shot down, and don't do anything I would!" Kai shouted before running out to his skimmer.

"Hey wait up!" Piper shouted as both she and Marina chased after the groups sole male member.

"Guess that's our cue huh Starling?" Tigger asked nervously.

"Don't worry Tigger, I'll be flying, you and Rondana just focus on thinning out their numbers. Piper, Marina, and Kai will do the rest."

"But doesn't that mean we have to take out the destroyers?" Rondana asked with a frown.

"Yeah, but we should be fine. Their just Cyclonian's, so they shouldn't be that much trouble right Starling?"

Starling chuckled. "I believe you are correct Tigger. Come on, we need to get to the ship before they get too close."

As Tigger, Rondana and Starling boarded the freighter, they watched in awe as the desert ground split open, and a large ramp rose from an underground chamber facing the oncoming enemy battle group.

"That's the signal, time to head out. You girls ready?" Starling asked over the intercom.

"Everything's fine here, I just hope this thing still works," Rondana replied with a nervous chuckle.

"Of course it'll work! I fixed it myself!" Tigger shouted feigning offense before pouting slightly.

"Cool it you two, save your fire for them," Starling chided.

"Now that's awesome," Kai said with a large smile as he watched the ramp rise, section by section.

"Well, it just made sense at the time. Keeping it underground means it won't get damaged by the elements. That, and it's an easy way to get rid of people on your front lawn if you don't want to deal with them in person," Schaeffer said with a small knowing smile.

"By the way, just how do you plan on helping us? For you to have something like this, I'm guessing that you have some sort of flight vehicle too," Piper asked curiously.

Schaeffer nodded as she held up what looked like a purple surfboard. "Got it right here."

Everyone raised an eyebrow, which Schaeffer ignored. "Just try and keep up ok?" She said before throwing the surfboard forward and jumping onto it.

Kai, Piper and Marina watched as it suddenly came to life and sped down the ramp faster than most skimmers.

"Oh it is on girl, no way your dusting me!" Kai shouted as he slammed forward to full speed.

Marina and Piper looked at each other before revving and taking after the two.

"Great, they get to go and have fun while I'm stuck here rock sitting," Shadow said with an aggravated sigh.

"You know, I can hear you Shadow," Rose said crossing her arms.

"AHH! Don't do that!" The young teen shouted with a start.

"Remember, you have to succeed should they fail, do not take this responsibility lightly."

"Yeah yeah, I know, everyone's counting on me," Shadow said sarcastically. "Like those bunch are going to fail. Unless they've got a bunch of aces with them, this is going to be like watching a Disney movie, just without all the sappy romance and destiny tripe."

Had she paid a bit more attention, Shadow would have noticed the slight grin on Rose's face.

"Sappy, maybe not, but I hope destiny fails this time. I grow tired of this game." Rose thought before frowning slightly.

"Alright, looks like the others are airborne. Now remember, we're going for volume, not accuracy this first round ok? Just put as much flack up as you can," Starling ordered.

"Flack?" Rondana with a confused frown.

"It means just shoot at them as much as you can!" Tigger shouted before bringing her twin turret to life and lighting the sky with crystal fire.

"Oh, why didn't you just say that?" Rondana replied, not able to hear Starling groan or see her shake her head.

"Remember, there are fifteen skimmers per destroyer. We need to thin them out as much as possible the first time through, after that we can only focus on the destroyers," Starling called out.

"What? Why? We can help the others if you turn around," Rondana asked.

"Because we won't be able to tell which ones are friendly and which ones are not. We've only got four allies up here, and we can't afford to risk friendly fire," Tigger replied as she continued to fire a stream of crystal fire into the cloudless sky.

"Grrrrr! Hold still so I can blast you already!" Rondana shouted as the skimmers split up to dodge her attacks.

"They're not going to make it easy for us Rondanaaaaa! Watch it Starling! How about a warning next time!" Tigger shouted from suddenly being lurched to the side.

"Sorry, but we're in range of the destroyers now, so you'll have to stay on your toes. I'll try to keep the ship steady, but I can't make any promises. It's been awhile since I flew anything this big into a hornets' nest," the older woman replied before making another sudden shift to dodge a round of crystal cannon fire.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Tigger replied clutching her stomach.

"You barff, you're clean it up," Kai's voice called out over the intercom.

"Wait a minute, you can hear us?" Starling asked with a raised eyebrow.

Static

"Kinda, all my equipment is tied in through a central network channel. I can patch any of my skimmers or ships in from any of my other ones, including my base. It makes them easier to track if someone tries to boost one of my toys," Kai replied matter of factly.

"So that means that the others can't hear us?" Tigger asked.

"I can! I'm guessing if Shadow was up here she would be able to too since she's using one of his skimmers," Piper replied with her usual cheerful tone.

"Ok, well heads up guys, we weren't able to put a scratch on them, looks like these guys at least passed flight school, so be careful," Starling warned.

"Yes mother," Kai and Piper replied sarcastically.

"Ok, so fifteen per destroyer, that makes a hundred and twenty total, so that's thirty each. Think you guys are up for it?" Kai asked smirking.

"More than you!" Piper shouted before blowing a raspberry.

"Let's go bag the season's quota on talons!" Marina shouted with a grin.

"Just thirty each? I'll try to leave so for the rest of you," Schaeffer said with a wink.

"Tigger, destroyer coming up at three o clock charley, aim for the engines, they're the only thing not protected by shielding," Starling shouted as she dodged another burst of cannon fire.

"On it!" Tigger replied as she swung her turret around and upward.

"Eh, weas hunten wabbets's, hewr buny buny buny," Tigger said closing one eye and squinting her other through the targeting lenses.

"Take the shot Tigger! Now!"

"Not yet Starling, I neeeeed….there!" Tigger shouted before firing a single shot which hit, and knocked off the top right engine from one of the Cyclonian destroyers, causing it to fall at an angle into the desert floor below.

"HA! That's how we do things in Aladates!"

"Great shot Tigger, but don't get cocky!" Starling shouted over the intercom.

"Hey, not my fault your stuck flying while we get to have all the fun! Yeeeha!"

Starling ignored the barb as best she could, but still found herself frowning slightly. "I wish I could do more, it's been too long since I flew anything like this into battle. I'd be of more use on a skimmer, heck, I'd be better off in a turret," Starling thought before pulling the ship up to dodge the falling destroyers last barrage of fire.

Static

"Look out! Incoming!" Kai's voice shouted over the intercom.

"What? Whe?" Starling froze as she saw the chain of blast's coming in the corner of her vision.

"There's no time to dodge that! Blast, this is what I get for not staying focused, I just hope the ship can take it," Starling thought with a cringe.

"Ahh! It's going to hit!" Rondana shouted, seeing the blast coming nearing and nearer towards her turret.

Static crackle

"Are you ok?"

Starling and Rondana looked up from their stations to where the crystal blasts were coming from.

They expected to see more blasts coming, which they did.

They expected to see them hit, and they did.

They hit, a large red and pink wing that had covered half of the freighter.

A wing that was connected to the back of a lone figure, standing atop a flying surfboard.

"It's Schaeffer! She's blocked it!" Tigger shouted in disbelief.

Schaeffer gave a curt salute before turning around and heading back into the fray.

"Thanks Schaeffer," Kai said letting out the breath he had been holding.

"No problem, I just hope they don't make a habit of it," Schaeffer replied as she charged two energy orbs, one in each hand. "Try to keep up!"

Using the two energy orbs, Schaeffer deflected several rounds of skimmer fire back at the talons that had fired at her. Each of which hit either their wings or engines, effectively knocking them out of the sky.

"Not bad, but, I give you a seven out of ten," Kai said before jumping out of his seat to stand on the wings of his skimmer, and deflect a series of blaster rounds meant for him back at a nearby destroyer. Though it didn't do much damage, it looked impressive, to Kai at least.

"No wonder you set the limit to thirty," Schaeffer teased as she brought the two orbs in her hands together into a single large orb, which then 'fired' out of her hands and hit the same Cyclonian destroyer.

Going through the shields.

And exiting through the other side of the ship.

Kai's eyes bugged out, which caused Schaeffer to giggle. "Aw, I promised to leave some for you remember? So don't get too down on yourself.

With narrowed eyes, Kai sent Schaeffer a look that was known to all who had seen it.

'It's on!'

Slamming the throttle to full, Kai went after the damaged destroyer before suddenly pulling up and cork screwing to dodge the cannon and anti aircraft fire.

"Alright baby, let's show them what we can really do!" Kai thought as his small grin spread into a predatory one matching Repton's.

Seconds later, the skimmer stalled out, and nosedived.

Schaeffer rolled her eyes.

"Show off, he's going to get himself killed one of these days. Though I guess I am partially to blame this time."

When he was several hundred feet above the destroyer Kai pushed forward and out with the control yoke, folding the skimmer's wings back like it was going to transform into land mode, but without deploying the wheels.

Now only seconds from the Cyclonian destroyer, Kai focused a small portion of his power into a shield as he had when fighting Naboroou. But instead of a pair of wings, he formed a large dragons head around the front of his skimmer.

The head pierced the shields and continued through the ships armor plating, all ten decks, and out the bottom.

Pulling the control yokes back to their normal position, Kai redeployed the wings just as he passed through the bottom of the ship.

"Top that!" Kai shouted before immediately being forced to duck and weave the wounded, but still flight worthy destroyers cannon fire.

"I think I'll leave that to you, come on, Piper and Marina need out help with the other talons. We don't have the firepower to take on capital ships."

Kai shot Schaeffer a look, which cause her to groan and roll her eyes.

"Ok, se we 'do' have the firepower, but they still need our help, come on!"

Kai grunted as he looked back at the wounded destroyer.

"She's right. We could take them down, but in the time it would take to do that, Marina and Piper would be overrun. Dang, just when things were getting fun too."

"Where does Lark get all these guys?! Henchmen's R Us?!" Marina shouted as she took down another enemy skimmer with a burst of crystal fire.

"I doubt it; she must be buying in bulk, so it's probably Floor Mart, discount price if you buy by the dozen ya know?" Piper joked as she froze a nearby switchblade's engine causing it to drop like a stone.

"GRRRAAAA! Every time I shoot one down five more pop up! It's like trying to fight off a horde of cockroaches in a kitchen!" Marina shouted in anger.

Piper chuckled. "Well then, we'll just have to handle them the same way right? Step on them!" Piper shouted as she swung her staff out like a baseball bat and close lined a talon that had tried to play her in a game of chicken clear off his skimmer.

"Quick, Radarr!"

The sky monkey nodded and jumped out of his sidecar onto the now pilotless switchblade.

"Now we've got five on our side."

"Yeah, against their freaking armada!" Marina shot back as she held her hand out towards the 'cloud' of enemy skimmers.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Marina and Piper both shivered as they watched five talon switchblades suddenly drop from the sky with smoke trailing behind them, Kai following not too far behind cackling wildly.

"He's so into this it's scary," Marina said blankly.

"It's the dragon's blood. Trust me, as long as you don't make him think you're the enemy you'll be alright. If you tag him though, you're on your own," Piper warned.

Marina shuddered before turning her attention to a lone skimmer that was breaking away from the others and heading for the tower.

"A wise guy eh? Not for long he's not," Marina said grinning before giving chase, only to be cut off by a squadron from above.

"That one must be the leader, their covering for him so he can get to the tower. Blast, I can't get through them, and the others are spread all over the place. I hope Shadow can deal with whoever it is."

Nagera frowned as he looked back over his shoulder. The enemy skimmers were all mismatched and none were flying insignia's or squadron colors. Added to that, all the pilots were wearing identical black flight suites, (well, all but the one with the flying surfboard) he amended.

"Who are these guys? I don't remember anything about a sky squadron that flew with no marks. Are they the Sky Council's Special Forces or something? They aren't flying in formation, and I haven't seen anyone of them use a signature move…of course! They must be the Councils elite squadron. It's no wonder Moss got his tailbone kicked up his spine like that. But if none of them have used a signature move yet, it must be because the Sky Knight is on the transport, or is on the ground defending the tower. I doubt they have more than eight members, and their leader would be the strongest, so he'd be protecting the target. It's time for me to get some answers," Nagera thought as he pulled free his twin crystal blade sword from its sheath, and brought it to life.

"We have to punch through their shields! Concentrate your fire!" Starling shouted.

"We're doing our best! You keep jumping around and flying like this things a rollercoaster! If you want us to give you better results, you have to give us better shot's to take!" Tigger fired back.

Starling bit back her tongue, knowing that the younger girl was right this time. The fault lied with her. She was used to flying skimmers, not larger craft.

"I can't believe Kai would have built a craft that would require three people to operate. He must have some form of countermeasures or something," Starling growled tightening her grip on the control sticks.

A sudden cannon blast caught her off guard and forced her pull up and back on the controls.

"Primary Flight Mode Engaged"

Starling raised an eyebrow before letting out a surprised 'eak' when the seat she was sitting in suddenly flipped upside down. Before she could fall off the seat however she felt a set of restraints wrap around her wrists, under her shoulders, around her thighs and around her ankles.

For a brief second she couldn't see anything but blackness, but a set of lights suddenly came to life.

What Starling saw made her scream.

"Who puts a reversing ejector seat on a ship!"

Starling closed her eyes but after a few seconds of nothing happening, opened them again, and noticed that something was amiss.

Looking around she saw the sky and enemy fighters, and below her was the ground. But she couldn't feel the air rushing past her face, nor did she feel the heat from the sun shining above. Looking at her arms, she noticed the restraints.

"What on Atmos?"

Her senses returning to her, she also felt the ones under her arms, and the ones on her legs.

"What the devil is this?" Starling shouted before trying to free herself by tugging her left leg and arm free.

She felt a sudden shift and noticed that she was now looking up and pitching to the left.

"Ahh! Starling! What are you doing up there!" Rondana's voice called out from seemingly nowhere.

"Where did that come from? It sounded like Rondana, but…what is going on here?"

Giving her right arm an experimental tug, she felt her body shift to the right.

"I don't believe this! This is some sort of flight control system; it must use the person's body movements to control the ship!"

Moving her body against each of the harness straps, she quickly figured out how it worked, and only at the cost of some minor complaining (read as multiple death threats and curses) from Tigger and Rondana. Apparently, the wrists controlled the ships maneuvering thrusters, allowing her to break or pitch by moving them. Her shoulders controlled the flaps allowing her to alter the ships altitude with a single shift, or even barrel roll just by rotating her shoulders. The straps around her left and right thighs were the throttles for the port and starboard engines respectively, so she could accelerate by pushing her hips out, or slow down by pushing back up. The only tricky part was the ankles, which controlled the rudders, and thereby the steering. It took her a couple of tries to get the movements down, but as soon as she did, she felt a large grin spread across her face.

"Kai must have covered the ship with modified messenger crystals, which transmit the images they see to viewing crystals that line this cockpits wall, giving the pilot an unobstructed three hundred and sixty degree by three hundred and sixty degree view, Kai you're a genus!"

Now, feeling much more in control of the situation, Starling looked around and spied the closest destroyer and made the necessary movements to reach it.

"It's strange, but, the way this is designed almost seems organic. Like how a bird or insect would fly."

Rolling her shoulder blades back and trusting out her left arm and right hip, Starling executed a half roll and put the ship into a steep angled climb.

"No, not a bird, nor an insect. This is how a dragon would fly," Starling thought. "When I dive, both of you aim for its engines alright," Starling shouted.

"What are you talking about? What ship, I don't see one?" Tigger called back.

"It'll be coming up and twelve o'clock. I'm going to put you up right behind it alright?"

"Uh, Starling, are you sure that's a good idea? That kind of maneuver's a bit risky," Rondana replied with a gulp.

"Trust me, I've got this. Just make sure that you don't miss alright?"

Going into a small dive, Starling brought the ship back up and turned sharply so that the back end of the destroyer was now directly in front of them.

"Fire!" Starling yelled out over the com system.

Rondana and Tigger both looked up to see the back end of a Cyclonian destroyer only a few meters from them.

"You take the left!" Tigger started.

"You get the right!" Rondana shouted back.

The two girls opened fire, picking off the engines one at a time until they had knocked off all six. They watched as the falling ship continued to fire at them and were surprised when the ship suddenly darted to the right before pitching to the left to dodge the incoming fire, rather than lurch to the side.

Whistles "Not bad Starling, where'd you learn to fly like that?" Tigger asked curiously.

Starling shook her head chuckling. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Tigger and Rondana both raised an eyebrow at this before letting it drop and chalking it up to what the group was now calling 'Messa Madness' a condition that they used to explain anything Kai or Starling did that nobody could understand, or was just plain weird.

Marina gauged the talons around her carefully. There were six in total, and as far as she could tell they were all squaddie grade material.

"Like half decent take out I guess. Still not a match for me. I'm getting tired of fly through and takeout though, I want a lobster dinner!" Marina sighed as her stomach grumbled. Trying to fight on an empty stomach was never fun for her. For some reason she always found herself making food analogies, as was the case here.

Pulling her twin scimitars free from their holsters, Marina put them in a reverse hold so the blades were pointing down before hopping up on her seat.

"Ready or not, here I come!" Marina shouted as she jumped from her skimmer onto the closest enemy switchblade.

The young male pilot looked up at her first in shock, then in alarm.

"AHH! Get off!" He shouted before reaching for his holstered weapon.

Marina flashed a grin as she watched the terrified pilot before deciding to have some 'fun'.

"Hi sweetie, I'll be your flight attendant today. In the definite event of a crash landing, please remember where your emergency parachute is located," she said before bringing her blades down together and out, cutting the entire front portion of the switchblade off. Grinning, Marina did a back flip jump from the now diving skimmer and landed on another one.

"If you're unable to find your emergency chute, please follow these three simple guidelines," she continued before bringing her blades up and severing the wings from the skimmer. After winking, Marina jumped from the doomed skimmer and landed on the wing of the next one that had flown directly under the previous one.

"First, crouch as low as you can." Slicing the two left wings from their hinges, she hopped onto the next one, landing directly behind its pilot.

"Second, bend over as far as possible," she said slicing the fuselage in half and dropping back off the falling half of the skimmer.

Feeling the air rushing across her face and her copper red hair dancing wildly in the wind, Marina's grin widened as she saw the last two skimmers come towards her from different directions, but neither pilot seeing her.

"And kiss your sorry can goodbye!" Marina shouted driving her blades into the wings of the first skimmer, slicing clean through, and continuing her freefall.

Twisting her body in mid air, she looked up to admire her handy work. The skimmer that she had sliced the wings off of twirled several times before crashing into the last one, creating a giant red fireball.

"Sayonara from Gerudo," Marina said giving a mock salute as she deployed the glider she 'borrowed' from Kai several days ago and soared back to her skimmer.

"I haven't had this much fun in ages. I should try to join the patrols more often when I get back," Marina though before hearing a familiar roaring engine pull alongside her.

"Hey Marina, how many you got?" Piper asked pulling up alongside her.

Remembering the earlier jabs at her age, Marina decided to have some fun.

"Oh please, age before beauty," she said smugly.

"Then shouldn't you go first?" Piper teased before calling out. "I've got eight so far."

"Not bad kid, but I'm still three ahead!" Marina shouted with a laugh.

"Three ahead huh? I think your old age is starting to mess with your head," Piper shouted as she pointed behind them, specifically at the rear firing blasters on Kai's skimmer, and the mayhem it was causing the battle field.

Now, Marina had been called many things in her life, most of which were from Zelda, but spoiled and whiney were never among them.

That changed when Marina saw Piper take down three skimmers that had been trailing her without even turning to face them.

Marina pouted. "No fair. You cheated!"

Piper laughed before shaking her head. "Not my fault your mechanics don't try to copy what they see on TV."

"But Kai's not your mechanic, and that's not even your skimmer! You fly a heliscooter!" Marina shouted back.

Piper frowned.

"Flew a heliscooter. I'm going to see if Kai will loan or sell me one of his. He's got like, ten, so I doubt he would miss one."

Marina watched as an odd twinkle flashed across the younger girls face. It was there, and then gone in the blink of an eye, but Marina saw it.

"Especially if the price is right," Piper added with a mischievous grin and winking before pulling off to attack another squadron.

"What in Naru's graces was that? For a second there I could have sworn that I was looking a younger version of Nabaroou," Marina thought before shaking her head to clear the thought, nay nightmare of a second Nabaroou walking the surface of Atmos.

Grinning madly, Kai brought his skimmer around for another pass. For the first time in what seemed weeks, he was actually having fun. Sure, taking down scores of talons was something that even a first year squaddie could do, but it was still fun.

A stray blast skirted across his path, not hitting him or his skimmer, but it did get his attention.

Following the path of the blast to its source, he smiled at his good fortune.

"Heliblades? Oh, this is going to be good."

Pulling his tri-staff free Kai charged the squadron of heliblades at top speed, and with a single arc shaped wave of energy severed the primary rotor from the front three.

"Man, I must be getting rusty, I used to be better then this," Kai thought as he brought his skimmer around for another pass.

"You don't mind if I cut in do you?"

Several blats of blue energy struck the remaining heliblades, which were quickly followed by ice spreading out and over the hit areas.

"Piper! Get your own dance partner!" Kai shouted before ducking a flurry of blasts.

"Hey! Watch it you….oh bugger," Kai's face twisted as he shoved the controls roughly to the side and barrel rolled to avoid getting shot full of holes.

Apparently, these talon's were not the stock generic brand, but were actually half decent fighter pilots when alone.

In groups of ten or more however, they were actually a threat.

"Where did Lark find smart Talons!?" Kai shouted as he ducked and rolled to avoid getting hit.

"I don't know! I thought they were just a myth!" Piper shouted back as she too was forced to dodge a hail of crystal fire.

"This is bad, we still haven't even put a dent in their numbers, they just keep coming and coming!" Kai shouted as he blasted a lone Talon that flew in front of him.

"Well I'm open to suggestions!"

"Suggestions? Ok, here's one for you, DON'T GET SHOT!" Kai yelled as he pulled his skimmer up into a steep climb.

Half the skimmers followed him, while the other half continued chasing Piper.

"Kai! You rat, get back here!"

Checking behind her, Piper saw that the Talon's were keeping a certain measure of distance between them, and that none of them were directly behind her.

"Looks like they figured out about the backfire cannons. I still cant believe Kai would just abandon me like that, here I thought he was ,"

"Maybe he still is?"

Piper groaned.

"Not you again, cant you see that I'm a little busy!"

New Piper snickered. "Yes, but it's the only time you ever listen to me. Now, back to Kai, I don't think he abandoned you."

"Uh, yes he did, I'm still here, he's not, I'd call that ABANDONED!"

"Sheesh you don't have to yell, I'm right here. Look, Kai did leave, but he took about half of them with him, better to only have five people shooting at one person than ten shooting at two. This way neither of you has to dodge as much, aaaaannnnnnd, I've got a plan," New Piper said with a large grin.

"Well, let's have it, I'm all ears," Piper said, knowing that taking advice from what was in her opinion 'a scantly clad' voice in her head was a bad thing, but also knowing that she really had nothing to lose at this point as her sanity was clearly gone.

"Alright, here's what we're going to do. Remember that radio thing Kai told us about?"

"Man I know that's going to come back and bite me in the butt. Piper's going to be pissed, I know it," Kai thought as he dodged another burst of crystal fire meant for him.

Static

"Kai, sweetie, are you aware that you left me WITH A SQUARDON OF TALON'S ON MY REAR!" Piper's voice came out of the radio like a screaming banshee loud enough that the perusing talons heard it. Kai could have sworn he heard several snickers.

Gulping, Kai replied as he dodged a few more shots at his backside.

"Uh, yeah, kinda…..look, I'm sorry ok, but it was the only way that I could,"

"SHOVE IT! I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAY! THE TALON'S SHOULD BE THE LEAST OF YOUR WORRIES! I'M TAKING YOU DOWN MYSELF!"

Kia looked up and saw a clearly angered Piper flying towards him with a squad of talons trailing her, but instead of firing, they seemed to be trying to figure out what was going on.

"What is she doing? Piper knows I'd never leave her if I didn't think she could handle herself, what's she up too?"

Focusing as best he could on the younger teen, Kai noticed something off. Even though everything about her screamed 'I'm going to kill you' her mouth was smirking, not scowling.

"She's coming at me head on with a bunch of talons foll….oh, your good Piper, you are good." Now wearing a matching grin, Kai adjusted his angle so that he and Piper were flying head on.

With only seconds to spar, Kai spun his skimmer so that he was now upside down, and saw sparks fall down around him from where the bottom of his skimmer grazed Piper's.

"Gang way!" Kai shouted bringing his skimmer's cannons to life and hitting the squad that had been following Piper, while she open fired on the group that had been tailing him. In a single move, the two had splashed ten more talons.

Bringing his skimmer upside right again, Kai saluted Piper, who laughed before returning one of her own.

"Man, I can't believe that she had that in her all this time. Why was she holding back? The girls almost as good as her fearless woodpecker," Kai thought before shrugging it off and going to find his next group of targets.

"Hey Schaeffer, you doing alright?" Marina asked the frowning pinkette.

"Hmm? Oh yes, I'm fine. I just need to find a place to leave my Overboard for a little while. It's been so long since I used it that I forgot to recharge it," she replied with a small smile.

"Uh, won't that take you out of the fight? Not that these guys are much trouble, but we really do need a hand out here."

Schaeffer shook her head. Don't worry, I have other ways. I guess here's as good a place as any," she said as her flying surfboard started to fall.

"Schaeffer! Hop on!" Marina shouted, thinking that her friend was in trouble.

Marina dived towards the falling board and its rider and was shocked to see that not only were her eyes were closed, but that she was also smiling.

A pink energy field suddenly surrounded her body, and two large crystal wings sprouted from her back as she kicked off from her board and shot towards the closest talon, like she had jumped from a lateral diving board.

"She can fly?" Marina asked out loud to no one in particular.

"I can do a lot more than fly Marain," Schaeffer said as she reeled back her fist and nailed the talon with a cross cut so strong that it actually sent the poor pilot flying from his seat.

Marina whistled in praise before going back to her own small scale war.

"She cold cocked him right out of his seat. Too bad she won't be here much longer though, she'd be a good addition to my squad, and I'm sure she could give Zelda a royal fit," Marina thought while chuckling at the images her mind came up with.

Cracking her knuckles, Schaeffer gave her wings a single powerful flap, sending her up into the path of another switchblade.

"Energy field!"

One after another, pink orbs of energy flew from her hands and struck the skimmer until it exploded. The pilot pulled his emergence chute all the while screaming and shaking his fist in anger.

Smiling, Schaeffer crossed her hands over her chest, and closed her eyes in concentration.

At first, nothing happened, but after just a few short seconds a large field of pink energy engulfed her body. Opening her eyes, Schaeffer's face became a blank mask devoid of emotion, though her emerald green eyes glowed with an ethereal emerald light.

"Time to end this."

Stretching her hands out to her sides, the pink field of energy flowed from her body and out of her hands, forming two large swords that were over ten feet in length.

Pttf pttf

Feeling the crystal blasts strike her, Schaeffer turned to face her attacker, which turned out to be several skimmers.

In a single fluid motion, Schaeffer's blades extended several times their length as she brought them around and sliced the skimmers in half, leaving the stunned pilots to fall before turning back to find more enemy's.

Seeing a large group trying to encircle the area, she took off for them, pausing only long enough to change her blades back to their original length.

"Starling, we need to move now!" Tigger shouted in alarm.

"I see them Tigger, don't worry, I've got I plan.

"A plan? What? To get us killed?" Rondana called out as she fired another salvo of rounds at one of the two destroyers now chasing them.

"No, a good plan, just trust me," Starling replied calmly.

"I don't know if she made Kai the way he is now, or if he made her like this when they used to be friends. I swear they're so much alike it's scary," Rondana thought as she reflected on the single phrase that she had come to hate with a passion in the last few weeks.

'Trust me'

"Oh how I hate that phrase. Whoever came up with it should be dragged out in into a street and flogged," she muttered as she continued to fire at the destroyer that she swore was getting closer of the two.

"Any time now Starling! They're gaining on us!" Tigger cried out as she cringed into her seat.

"Tigger, Rondana, switch to harpoons and fire on the lead destroyer on my mark," Starling said as she watched what was happening from inside the 'crystal sphere' cockpit.

"What? Harpoons? How do I do that? I barely even know how to fire normal blasts with this piece of junk!" Rondana shouted as her right eyebrow started twitching.

"Rondana, you see the buttons to your right side? Those are the different types of weapons you're armed with, just look for the one that's a harpoon," Tigger explained to her friend, though still not getting where Starling was going with this.

"Harpoon….harpoon…." Rondana said under breath as she looked over the red glowing buttons.

"There's no labels on any of them, just little pictures, and none of them look even remotely like a harpoon," Rondana's fingers trailed over one that had a snowflake, which was followed by a flame, which was above one that looked vaguely familiar but she couldn't for the life of her figure out what a circle surrounded by three triangles pointing inward stood for.

Coming to the last button, Rondana had to fight the urge to roll her eyes and bang her head on the wall.

"Is it the one with a whale on it?" Rondana asked exasperatedly.

"Yeah, I guess Kai was bored when he did this," Tigger said with a small snicker.

"You two ready yet?" Starling said, the irritation in her voice clear as water.

"Yep, all set and ready here," Tigger replied.

"Ready here too…I guess," Rondana answered with a groan.

"Alright, when I give the signal, fire on the one that's above us."

"Above us? What are you talking aboutttttt!" Tigger was slammed into her harness and nearly gagged from its force.

Starling had apparently fired the retro rockets and used them to bring the freighter to a sudden stop.

"Fire! Now!"

Shaking her head to clear her vision, Tigger fired a second later than Rondana and watched as two harpoons fired from the back of the ship, pierced the destroyer's shields, and embedded themselves into its hull.

"Hang on tight, things are going to get a little bumpy," Starling warned as she pulled her shoulders down and pulled her hands back while thrusting her hips forward.

The result was the freighter taking a sudden nosedive and pulling the now attached destroyer off course.

The difference in size between the freighter and the destroyer meant that the freighter didn't have a chance at pulling the destroyer around like it could a skimmer. But, since the destroyer was still moving forward, and the freighter was only going down, it did have enough force to pull the destroyer slightly off course.

Downward

Causing it to plow into the destroyer that was right beneath it.

The two chains that attached the harpoon to the freighter snapped lose as the two ships plummeted towards the desert floor below.

Tigger and Rondana both watched with matching expressions of amazement and wonder, while Starling looked on with a smug grin.

"Kai's not the only one that watches tv."

"They're tearing through us like wet paper bags! At this rate we'll be out of flight capable ships in minutes," Nagera shouted as he slammed his fist on the towers metal wall.

For the last ten minutes he had tried to find a way in, but the tower had no doors, no windows, nor even an air vent that a person could climb through.

Added to that, the metal was seamless, so he couldn't even jimmy open a plate to get in.

"Its like the thing was made to survive a nuke or something," Nagera muttered.

Looking back to the sky, he saw the number of skimmers, and even capital ships continue to dwindle. Three destroyers were down, and about a fourth of his talons were now grounded.

"These guys are good. But why has the Council been holding them back for so long? If they sent them into Cyclonia, the war would've ended a year ago."

Weighing his options, Nagera made a call that he hoped would solve this problem.

Hey Rose, how much longer till its ready?"

The older woman looked around at the streams of numbers and symbols that flowed throughout the towers walls and sighed.

"Not much longer, twenty minutes at most," she replied before going back to her work.

"Do you think it will work?"

The older woman didn't respond, causing the already annoyed teen to growl before stomping off.

"And just where are you going?" She asked, still not turning to face the young teen.

"I'm going out there to help my friends," she said as she jumped onto the lift and hit the switch to lower it.

Rose smiled as she heard to lift each the bottom.

"Make him proud Arabella."

"Stupid older people think they can just tell me what to do. They're not even that much older than me!" Shadow snarled as she pulled free her crystal ax.

Entering the series of commands that she had seen Schaeffer perform several times since arriving, Shadow jumped through the opening in the wall before it closed shut behind her.

"Now, all I have to do is,"

"So you're the leader of the Sky Council's special ops division? I must say I was expecting someone…older."

Shadow froze.

"That voice, I know that voice! It's Nagera!"

"Though I'm not complaining, it's not every day I get to fight someone who's as skilled and good looking as I am."

"This guy's way above my league, I don't have a prayer of winning against him," Shadow thought as her hands started to shake.

"What can I do? I can't fight him, maybe I can bluff him? I've seen Kai do it plenty of times, and Aerrow does it every time we get in a jam." Swallowing the lump in her throat, Shadow took a deep breath to steel herself.

"You can do this Shadow."

Feeling a wave of confidence and calmness suddenly pass over her, Shadow spoke with the same calm authoritative tone she heard Starling use in the past.

"And just who might you be?"

She could hear Nagera chuckle.

"So confident in your abilities that you don't even feel the need to face me? I like that in a girl, too bad you're playing for the wrong side," he replied confidently.

"He doesn't know who you are, he's trying to feel you out."

Feeling a slight dizzy spell come over her, Shadow spoke again, still not turning to face Nagera.

"I asked for you name and you flirt? Uou must be one of Lark's personal lackeys. What's wrong boy can't find anyone that will put up with you back home?"

Nagera raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Ow, kitten has claws does she? This day's getting better and better."

"Attack his pride; it's close to his heart. Turn that against him and make him lose control."

Closing her eyes, Shadow tried to will away the dizzy feeling that kept growing in the back of her mind.

"So I take it you haven't looked in a mirror yet have you?"

Nagera's smirk dropped slightly.

"Pretty big words for such a little thing. I've cut men down for saying less."

Shadow felt a smirk spread across her face.

"Men huh? I didn't know you were that bad off. Have you tried getting a cat?"

Nagera frowned.

"You have prodded me for the last time wench. I'll take you down, and then force you to watch as my men finish off your squadron!"

Shadow chuckled.

"Your men couldn't find their backsides with both hands AND your help. You expect me to believe they could do any real damage? Look around, your skimmers are littering the field as far as the eye can see. They are no threat to us, just as you are no threat to me. Be gone little worm, crawl back to your master like the little pawn you are." Shadow's voice fluxed between three similar, yet still distinctively different voices.

Two of which actually sounded male.

Once again Shadow felt a warmness spreading through out her body; while at the same time a chill pass over along spine. Her smirk grew and for a brief second she was aware that her flight suit was becoming slightly more snug around her frame. Not much, but around her arm, legs, and stomach it felt that is was a tad bit tighter than it had before.

"Enough talk; let's see you back up all that talk!" Nagera shouted as he lunged with his now drawn blade.

Shadow looked over her shoulder at the charging man with a bored expression.

"Very well, I guess we have enoughtime to play with you, boy."

Blade raised high, Nagera brought it down to slice her in half, but was stunned when his blade was blocked by a green crystal ax.

"Hello Nagera, remember me?" Shadow asked feeling a burning sensation course through her veins.

Schaeffer fired another two energy orbs at the skimmer as she passed under it. She knew it was wrong to 'play' when things were so serious, but it had been many years since she had the opportunity to battle as part of a team, and she couldn't help but feel a familiar sense nostalgia as she battled alongside this group of young warriors.

"Just like old times huh Jer? I'll be coming back to you soon, I promise."

Brrrbbbbbbrrrrbb

Schaeffer's warm smile vanished, as did her energy field. She even felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

"No, it's not possible. Not after all this time, he can't be back. Shadow should have another whole day before she was in any real danger."

"Schaeffer! Heads up!"

Brought back to reality, Schaeffer saw Piper pull up with a worried expression on her face.

"Piper, what's wrong?"

"Something doesn't feel right; I think something's about to happen, something big."

"Does she know?"

"What do you mean?"

Piper shook her head. "I don't know, it's just, something doesn't feel right. The talons are heading for low altitude, and that only makes them easier targets for us. I think they're up to something, but I'm not sure what."

"She means the battle, not….him," Nodding thoughtfully, Schaeffer frowned. "What would you suggest? You know their tactics better than myself."

Piper bit her lip.

"I think we should follow them. If they're heading low, they must have a reason. They're dumb, but not that dumb."

Schaeffer nodded. "I'll go down for a closer look, you tell the others."

Piper nodded in affirmation and turned as Schaeffer folded her wings back and falcon dived towards the ground below.

"You? I know you, you're that little Storm Hawk girl," Nagera said, recognizing her face instantly.

"And here I thought you were a threat? Ha! What are you? A runaway? This little group you new family?" He asked mockingly.

Shadow barred her teeth, but said nothing, instead she threw him back with a single motion before dropping into a defensive stance.

"Hate to break it too ya honey, but your little friends about to take a long dirt nap. I'll be sure to give you a nice spot close to them when I'm finished with you."

Shadow's eye's widened for only a split second before narrowing.

"Your still losing men, my friends are just fine."

Nagera grinned. "So sure about that are we?"

Starling watched as sparks began dancing across the remaining five destroyers.

"What on Atmos is that?"

"Hey static did static something?"

"Tigger? I'm sorry but I didn't catch that, could you repeat what you just said?"

"What on Atmos?" Kai looked around before trying to clear out his ear with his pinky. "What is that racket? It sounds like a lose fanbelt or something."

"I know that sound? But where did I hear it before?" Piper thought out loud. Feeling a tug on her neck, she looked down to see the zipper on her flight suit rise and point towards the destroyers like a compass needle.

"That's weird; it's almost like its being pulled by a magnet."

Piper's eyes widened as she slammed her fist down onto her radio.

"HIT THE DECK NOW! THEY'RE GOING TO FIRE AN EMP!"

Everything went white as a surge of electricity filled the sky.

Looking up, Schaeffer saw the field of electricity coming her way and quickly raised a barrier to protect herself.

"What a dirty trick, to use something like that on people!" Schaeffer's eyes widened as she realized that the others had no way to protect themselves from the blast.

"AHH! Tigger! What the heck is this?!" Rondana screamed. To her it felt like she was being pushed down on hot coals, while at the same time getting stung by swarms of hornets.

Neither Tigger or Starling responded however, as both of them were suffering from the same effects. Tigger, who had rarely ever cried felt her face wet, and even Starling, who had been trained to resist torture tasted blood from biting her lip so hard.

Piper rolled Kai's skimmer so that the bottom was facing the destroyers, and thus absorbed a majority of the blast. Her hands and feet however were still hit and felt thousands of tiny needles prickling her down to the bone.

"AHHH! Lark, I can't believe you'd stoop this low," Piper mutter as she tired to hang on to the still vertical skimmer.

"When I get my hands on whoever ordered that attack, they're going to wish their grandfather had never been born!" Kai screamed inside his head as he clutched his skimmer's controls for dear life.

Unlike the others, he had been moving away from the blast when it went off, meaning that his still slightly tender back took the full brunt of the blast.

"I hope the others are alright….gaaa, this is worst than…ahh! Star! Help me!"

To Kai, the world went black.

Marina watched as the pulse of electricity came closer and closer.

"I can't dodge it, it's too close!"

Cringing, Marina brought up her hands to cover her face before seeing a gold flash, followed by nothingness.

"You monster! Your own men were caught in that blast!" Shadow screamed as she felt the heat inside her begin to boil.

In her life, she had become upset many times, she had become angry quite a few time, she had been steamed on rare occasions, and every once and awhile, she had become truly ticked off.

But now,

Now she was beyond ticked, pissed off was still light years from being good enough. What she felt now, was pure, unrestrained rage.

And its target was only feet away from her.

Thu thump

Thu thump

Shadow felt her suit become a bit tighter, and the grip around her crystal ax squeeze until she could no longer fell her knuckles.

Thu thump

Thu thump

Looking up at the smirking man, Shadow felt her mouth spread into a scowl that barred her teeth savagely enough that her father would have been proud.

"You like causing people pain Nagera? You like hurting those around you without giving a single thought to what you're doing, or who you're hurting?"

As she spoke, Shadow felt something scalding hot spread across her chest, but right now, she didn't care. In fact, to her the pain was good, pain caused anger, and anger was now her fuel.

Nagera smirked at the reaction he was getting from the girl, knowing that she was about to completely lose it, and be no more of a threat to him than an angry toddler throwing a tantrum.

"One more good barb should do it, all I have to do is….what is that?" Nagera's eye's narrowed as he saw a flicker of red on the girl's chest. At first it only looked like a sparking wire, but it then began to glow brightly and mover around her torso outlining a design of some sort.

"It almost looks like some kind of…eye?"

"You have attacked me, you have tried to hurt me, and now you hurt my friends," Shadow seethed before looking up into Nagera's eyes with her own hate filled ones before disappearing into a wisp of black smoke.

"What the? Where'd she go?" Nagera said looking around for the now gone teen girl.

"Now it's my turn Nagera!" A hollow voice called out from above.

Nagera looked up just in time to see Shadow falling towards him with her ax raised in one hand.

Bringing up his sword, Nager blocked the attack, but was unprepared when her free hand came soaring around the conjoined weapons and hit him across the jaw and knocking him back.

Bringing his blade around to counter, he grinned wildly as his blade touched her flight suit, only to be thrown forward by his own momentum when her body again phased into smoke and disappeared.

"What is this girl? I've never seen anything like this before," Nagera said as he dropped into a defensive stance.

"Your stance is flawed. You lean too much on your right heel."

Nagera turned towards the voice only to see the girl appear out of thin air and hit him in the shin with a sweeping kick.

"See, to much weight means you cant properly evade low attacks,. Also leaning to your right like that leaves your entire left back quarter exposed."

Before he could even move, Shadow appeared behind Nagera and hit him with a jab hard enough to knock him on his stomach before again disappearing.

Growling, the older man pulled out his portable radio.

"I want all hands down here now! Find those pilots and deal with them as soon as you find them!"

Looking around he felt his smirk return. "You hear that? Your little friends are history! I'll make them wish they had fallen into the wastelands!"

"I would be more worried about what I'm about to do to you, rather than what they are going to do to your men."

Looking around and seeing nothing, Nagera rolled to the side expecting another areal assault, which never came.

"Come out and fight me you coward!"

"Like you are? Very well, if you wish to see me, I'm right HERE!"

Nagera screamed as he felt something grab him by the ankle and drag him down below the surface, leaving only his head and half his torso above ground.

"I have waited a long time for this chance. You think I don't remember what happened last time we fought? How you held me by the throat, choking me until I nearly blacked out?!"

Using all his strength, Nagera flew from the ground and charged the girl with a lateral swing, which she deftly blocked with an angled parry, leaving him unbalanced.

Not pausing to give him a break, Shadow hit him in the rib with reversing snap kick that sent him to the ground.

"How does it feel to be powerless Nagera? To struggle just to keep moving, to actually have to force yourself to remain conscious?"

Not one to go down without a fight, Nagera caught his second wind and brought his blade around in a series of lightning fast motions, all of which Shadow dodged with minimum movement.

"Hold still!" Nagera shouted as he continued to speed up hi assault.

"Hold still? Alright, I'll take you down without dodging a single attack!" Shadow shouted as she brought up her crystal ax and blocked every one of Nagera's attacks, all the while keeping her eyes locked to his.

No matter what Nagera threw at her, she blocked and parried every strike with expert precision.

"She's even better than Dark Ace! How did she get this good?"

For a brief second, he could have sworn that he saw a young man standing behind Shadow, holding her wrists in his hands and guiding her movements.

"High lateral guard, left stretching wing, reverse hold, push, return hold, right angle block, flat guard. His movements are textbook material. Just keep deflecting his attacks until he runs out of steam."

Shadow shook her head to clear out the mental 'fog' that had build up.

"What's going on? How am I fighting Nagera and not losing?" It didn't make any sense. She knew that Nagera was way better than she was, yet here she was fighting him as easily as Aerrow did with regular talons.

"And why do I feel, warm? It almost feels like someone's holding me."

Groaning, Tigger pushed herself up off the turret controls only to hiss in pain.

"Ahh, my hands."

Looking down she saw a few minor burns and blisters that now covered her palms. Several sparks rained down on her from above, which caused her to cry out in surprise.

"Tigger, you ok?" A dry voice called out from somewhere behind.

Everything was pitch black, and she could smell burnt wiring and fried equipment all around her.

Tigger coughed several times before responding. "Yeah, I'm still breathing. You?"

Again, sparks went off filling the dark interior with brief moments of light, just enough that she knew the ship was in bad shape.

"I think so….where's Starling?" Rondana asked before breaking into a fit of coughing.

"I don't know…Starling? Starling, you there?" Tigger called out.

"Hey Starling, come on, let us know your alright, Starling?" Rondana shouted as loudly as her horse voice could.

"We've got to get out of here, all this smoke will kill us if we stay," Tigger said as she pulled free from her safety harness.

"We have to find Starling first, we can't leave her in here," Rondana replied as she stepped into Tigger's turret.

"She should be in the cockpit, come on," Tigger motioned before stumbling over her own feet.

The two struggled as they made their way to the cockpit. Panels were open, wires hanging from the ceiling, and sparks were showering the floor every few seconds.

"This is bad, I don't think me, Stork and Eva together could get this bird in the air again," Tigger thought as they reached the cockpit.

"Starling!"

Looking up as she heard Rondana run forward, she saw the reason for her outcry only a few feet away.

There, in the center of the cockpit, lying on her back was Starling.

"Rondana, is she ok?" Tigger asked, jumping as a series of wires popped and fizzled above them.

The older teen knelt down and placed one hand on the older woman's stomach.

"She's breathing, but I think she got a concussion. We need to get her out of here, fast."

Tigger cringed, knowing that things were about as bad as they could be.

"There's an emergency hatch in the top, you think we can get her out through it?"

Rondana looked up at the hatch in question.

"With head trauma, you're supposed to keep the person as still as possible, but if we stay in here we'll suffocate. It's a lose lose either way you look at it," she replied biting her lip.

"Come on, we have to do something! I'll crawl out on top of the ship, and then you feed her up to me alright?"

Rondana nodded her head in response as she shook the older woman beneath her.

"Come on Starling, wake up, wake up. I know it hurts, but you have to open your eyes," Rondana said in a hushed, but still worried tone.

Groan

"Please, come on Starling, if you don't open you eyes, you might fall into a coma, and we really can't handle that right now. The ships toast, we're all hanging by a thread here, and I know Kai will fall apart if you're not ok. Come on Starling, wake up!" Rondana said with a bit more force as she shook the woman with a little more force.

While this was happening, Tigger carefully twisted the hatch open, being careful to mind the burns on her hands as she did so.

"This is bad, really really bad. We need help."

She nearly dropped on her butt when the hatch was suddenly flung open, but she let out a sigh of relief when a familiar head of red hair dropped in.

"Everything ok in there?"

"Thank heavens. Marina, we need help. Starlings out cold and Rondana thinks it's serious. We can't move her safely, but we need to get her out of here."

The redhead absorbed the information for a moment before replying.

"Will this ship ever fly again?"

Tigger looked around, before shaking her head. "No, this things scrapped for good."

"Ok, sit back for a second. I'll open a door in the side, it should be safer to mover her out that way."

"What door? Marina? Hello!"

Tigger eeped when two gold colored blades suddenly cut through the ships hull at the top, then slowly moved downward to the bottom, carving a large hole in the wall.

"Come on, we have to hurry!" Marina shouted as she put away her weapons and rushed in.

"Why, what's going on?"

Marina dropped down beside Rondana and helped her lift Starling as gently as possible.

"They're coming. The rats flew at low altitude so most of them escaped the blast unharmed, and now they're heading this way."

Tigger's eyes widened.

Shadow had long since figured out that this battle was pointless. She could finish off Nagera at her leisure, but something was making her drag the fight out. She wasn't sure what though.

"Greetings vassal."

Shadow jumped.

"Who said that?"

"That is of no importance. I see that you are enjoying my…gift to you. However, it is not free of charge. Your father has been a most gracious host, but I feel that he is no longer of any use, not when a much more acceptable one is at hand."

Shadow felt her heart start racing.

"The curse!"

"Yes, though I have a name, I see no reason to give it to one that is but a shell for my use. You will serve my purpose very well indeed Shadow, or should I say, Arabella?"

"No, no! You are not taking control of me!"

"You have no choice in the matter. Your anger is your power, your anger if your fuel, your anger, is your weakness."

"Shut up! You are not controlling me! I will fight you till the day I die!"

"Such is futility. Your father has 'fought' me since the day I took him over, as did his brother, and his father before him. Your cooperation is not necessary puppet. You have no say in this matter."

Shadow couldn't help but shudder. The voice was hollow, completely devoid of any emotion.

The cold was taking over, replacing the heat that coursed through her veins.

Her hand clinched tighter around the hilt of her weapon, and flung it with more strength then she had even felt before.

"You see child, your 'will' means nothing. You are my puppet to control, my shell to use, and my toy to do with as I please."

Holding out her right hand high into the air, a wisp of smoke rose and formed into a familiar broad sword.

"My reawaking is now complete. The earth shall again tremble before me, and fall to my will." Shadow said as she turned to the now clearly frightened Nagera.

"Ugh, why do I feel like I just left one of Finn's raves?" Kai asked as he pushed himself up slowly.

"Kai! You're alive!"

Opening his eyes, Kai blinked several times at seeing a shock of pink hair.

"Schaeffer? What happened?"

"The enemy used an E.M.P. You were hit and crashed, as did the others."

"Others…Star!" Jumping to his feet, Kai was about to run off when a strong pain of hands grabbed him by the shoulders.

"We have much bigger problems to worry about now that your friends."

Shoving Schaeffer's grip off, Kai turned and gave her his strongest glare.

"Shadow's presence has had an unforeseen consequence. I can't really go into details, but we have to stop her."

"You stop her; I'm going to protect my friends. If they hit the ground, then the talons are going to be all over them soon."

Before he could move, he was spun around again.

"I don't think you understand the situation. If Shadow is not stopped, your friends will die for certain, as will many more innocents. Now tell me, which would Starling prefer you do? Try to aid her in escaping the talons? Or to prevent the world from being plunged into darkness that hasn't been seen for thousands of years?"

Kai's face twisted into a feral scowl.

"I may have only known you for a short period of time, but I know that you respect this woman, and would do whatever she asks of you, regardless of your thoughts or feelings on the matter. Now please, we don't have much time."

Taking two deep breaths, Kai calmly looked into her eyes.

"What do you need me to do?"

"I need you to fight Shadow, and hold her off until the charging process is complete. This situation can be fixed, but I can't do it without your help."

Kai nodded before looking around, then groaning.

"Well my skimmer's toast. How are we supposed to make it back? If things are as bad as you say, running is out of the question.

Schaeffer smiled as her wings opened with a flare. "Not a problem."

Kai eyed the wings doubtfully. "Uhh, you really think you can carry me? I know your pretty strong, but," Kai never got to finish the statement, as Schaeffer spun him around the other way and wrapped her arms around him tightly.

"Try not to move, I don't want to drop you ok?"

Before he could reply, Kai found himself looking down at the ground from a good twenty feet up.

"Marina! Rondana! What's going on?" Piper shouted as she dismounted from her skimmer.

"Piper, Starling's in bad shape. We can't move her, but the talons are heading this way. We need a plan."

"We have two working skimmers, that's not enough to get all of us out of here," Tigger pointed out.

Radarr plopped down beside Starling, his skimmer having crashed not too far away.

"Can we fly Starling out of here?" Piper asked as they watched the horde of switchblades approach.

Rondana shook her head. "No, I need time to work on her first. If her concussion isn't treated she could fall into a coma, and unlike in the movies, people rarely wake up from them in real life."

"So we can't move her, we can't even really run, what are we supposed to do?" Tigger demanded.

Marina drew her scimitars, and switched them into a reverse hold.

"We fight."

"So your telling me that Shadow is somehow being controlled through means you cant tell me how, by someone, that you cant tell me who, and is trying to do something 'bad' that you cant tell me what. Is there anything you can tell me that might help out here?"

"Yes, she will be fighting at a level much higher than normal. I've seen people in this situation fight several master grade fighters with ease. She will also have enhanced strength, speed, and reflexes. Believe me when I tell you this, you have never fought anyone this powerful before."

Kai smirked.

"Sounds like fun."

"Do not underestimate her. It might be Shadow's body, but it's not Shadow. She's being used as a puppet, though she will still have all of her memories, and might even sound like her."

"So what do I do?"

"Keep her as far from me as possible while I try to fix the situation. This will not be easy though. If you could use your powers it might be a more even match, but that's not possible from what Rose told me."

Kai furrowed his brow in thought.

"What about yours?"

"Hm?"

"You said before that our power's are similar, are they similar enough that I could use yours?"

"Kai, we don't have time for me to properly transfer my energy to you and repair your own," before she could finish Kai cut her off.

"Not to repair my powers, just give me a quick charge. If our powers are similar, I should be able to use them."

"Kai, that's stupid. For one we don't even know if it would work, and second, even if it did you'd be in excruciating pain from having your energy network flooded."

"I can take pain, besides, what do we have to lose? You're making it sound like I can't fight her as is anyway. At least this way we have a shot?"

Shaking her head the woman sighed.

"Are you sure you want to do this? When I say you're going to be in pain, I mean it. This will be unlike anything you've ever experienced before."

"Schaeffer, that's my little sister down there. If someone is hurting her, I'm going to make sure they get ten times whatever they did to her."

Seeing Schaeffer's expression remain the same, Kai sighed. "Look, she's not my flesh and blood, but we've both been through some dark times. If we didn't have each other, I'm pretty sure that neither of us would be standing here right now. As far as I'm concerned, she's my little sister, and nobody hurts her and gets away with it."

Schaeffer narrowed her gaze before nodding.

"Ok, but remember, even if this works, it wont last for long."

Kai nodded in appreciation. 'Thank you."

Closing her eyes for a brief moment, Schaeffer focused as much energy into her hands as she could before forcing it into Kai.

ROOOOGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Piper and Marina both looked up in alarm as the terrible roar echoed across the terra.

Tigger voiced their collective thoughts.

"What the heck was that!?"

Groan "Kai"

Rondana looked down at Starling, whose head was resting in her lap. She couldn't swear to it, but it sounded like Starling had said something.

"Come on Starling, wake up, we need you here," Rondana pleaded.

Her only response was another groan.

Piper readied her staff as best she could in her aching hands, while Marina dropped into her most aggressive stance. Tigger and Radarr both flanked Rondana and Starling, acting as a final line of defense.

"Piper, whatever happens here, I want you to know that it was an honor to fight by your side."

Looking up, Piper was surprised by what Marina had said, but managed a weak smile as she replied.

"You too Marina."

Before them a sea of switchblades came diving from above, opening fire on the group below.

End chapter 15

Ok, I know you guys want to skin me alive now, but I had to stop here. I have the rest done in my head, but this chapter was already 28 pages, and I try to keep them around 20, 25 at most. But fear not! The next chapter will be up soon, I promise, no more than four days tops. The commercial from last time with Schaeffer and Kai's powers will appear in the next chapter, I just hadn't counted on this one turning out a big as it did. Please review and tell me what you thought of this one!

Now, onto the commercials! (I won't reuse the one from last time)

"Piper! Behind you!" Marina shouted as she threw the talon over her shoulder and tried to reach her friend, only to be tackled by several more.

Piper tried to break her captures gripe, but before she could move a searing pain filled her senses, and everything faded to black.

"Is this the extent of your power? Pathetic, and to think I looked up to you. You're even weaker than Finn!"

Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Kai pushed himself up to his feet.

"You're one to talk. So weak that you have to use a little girl to fight. At least I fight my own battles!"

Eyes narrowed, Shadow swung her sword over her head in a wide arc before hurling it a Kai with all her strength.

"Kai, please, help me!" Shadow cried out into the darkness.

"Arabella! Come on, your friend needs you!"

Shaking her head, Shadow choked back her tears to speak. "I need him, I need all of them. I'm too weak; I can't do this by myself!"

"They need you! Come on, no daughter of mine would give up like this! Fight!" The red eyed man shouted before pulling his twin crystal blade free from his back mounted sheath.

"If you won't fight, then I'll make you!" He roared as he lunged at the crying girl.

Next time, in Winds of Change Book II

Chapter 16: Battle of the Ancients! A Friends Decision!

"Piper! Do it now!" Rose ordered.

Hot tears streaming down her cheeks, Piper slammed the two glowing red crystals together with only a single thought in mind.

"Aerrow, Starling, please forgive me."

Till next time, Ja Ne!